Woodbury Pr= esbyterian Church

God’s= Love in ACTION

Sermon Note= s

“What Goes On= in a Commune?”

(Dreams and Visions= , Part 3)

Acts 2:37-4= 7, Psalm 19:7-11, 14

October 1, = 2006

&nb= sp; Have you ever wondered what goes on in a commune? Some of us in this room could be described as “The Woodstock Generation.” (“Peace, baby.”) Maybe some of us have even lived in a commune.=

&nb= sp; Webster’s Dictionary defines a commune as: “a sma= ll group of persons living together, sharing possessions, work, income etc. and often pursuing unconventional lifestyles.”

&nb= sp; Communes were pretty popular in the 1960’s, the “hippy era.” Young people who were frustrated with society as it existed wou= ld move out to the country in groups, pool their resources and form their own societies with their own rules. Or lots of times, with no rules at all. One= of the most famous communes was The (Oregon) Farm, founded by Ken Kelsey who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s N= est. Kelsey later said, “The commune idea of sharing was great, but it= all breaks down in the fridge.”

Another feature = of those communes was often the use of drugs, especially LSD, peyote and marijuana. That fits with Websters’ “unconventional lifestyle.” When we think about what goes on in a commune, maybe one picture that comes to mind is people sitting in a circle, listening to Jimi Hendrix and getting high.

&nb= sp; I first heard of communes when I was a young teenager. (I’m a little young for “the Woodstock Generation.” I turned thirteen during “the summer of love.”) But the thing that got my attenti= on about communes wasn’t sharing possessions and work. And it wasn’= ;t the idea of getting stoned. What captured my imagination was the philosophy= of “free love.” To a hormonal, thirteen year old male that concept= was quite intriguing. I admit, I wondered what went on in those communes.

&nb= sp; Some people say the ea= rly church was a commune.

&nb= sp; Now, no one is alleging that the early Christians were stoners. Some= of them got stoned, but not in that sense of the word. Neither drugs nor the excessive use of alcohol was part of their life together. They didn’t need those things. They had something better.

&nb= sp; You remember that on Pentecost, the day the church was born, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues. People in the crowd saw their ecstatic behavior and accused them of being plastered. Then Peter explained it all.

Acts 2:15:17a 15These= men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17R= 20; ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.’”

&nb= sp; And later in the New Testament, Paul gives this advice to Christians= .

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the S= pirit.

<= span style=3D'color:black'>I’ve never tried LSD, peyote or even pot, but I= have been filled with the Holy Spirit. And I can’t imagine any better high than that. People who have experienced both drug induced highs and the full= ness of the Spirit tell me I’m right about that. Nothing matches being fil= led with the Spirit. There is a brighter perspective on life. There’s a feeling of energy, purpose, excitement. And the joy! The joy is just indescribable.

Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about because you’ve been filled with = the Spirit. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer who simply and sincerely asks God for it and opens himself or herself to be fil= led.

The early church= was a Spirit filled community. It may have been a commune, but it wasn’t a haven for drugs. =

But what about the free love? Well,= in the early church there was lots of free love – but not the kind I tho= ught of when I was a teenager. From the very beginning, love was at the core of = the Christian Community. Jesus said, John 13:34 "A new comman= d I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

“Love one anothe= r as I have loved you.” That goes beyond “Love your neighbor as your self.” As Christians we’re supposed to love everyone – our bosses, our fa= mily members, the clerks and cashiers at the grocery store, even our enemies. “Love your neighbor as your self.” And Jesus made it pretty clear t= hat everyone is our neighbor.

But in the Chris= tian community our love is supposed to be even stronger than that, richer than t= hat. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Do you know that Jesus love= s you even more than you love yourself? Jesus forgives you more readily than you forgive yourself. Jesus cares about your well-being more than you care about your own well-being. Jesus wants the very best for you, and He is willing to pay the cost. And that’s the way we’re supposed to love each ot= her in the church.

I John 3:16 says, This is= how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought = to lay down our lives for our brothers. Christian love is sacrificial love. Christian love is Christ-like love. It isn’t just about what feels good. It isn’t about selfish satisfaction or even mutual gratification. It’s about loving one anot= her the way Jesus loves us. It’s about letting the love of Jesus Himself = flow through us.

Was there free l= ove in the early church? Plenty of it. But that love was more beautiful, more pure, more selfless than any other love on earth. That love was nothing less than= the very love of Jesus.

But the main reason the early church has been called a commune is because of the way they shared.<= /p>

&nb= sp; The verse we’re concentrating on today is Acts 2:42. It says, = 42They devoted themselves … to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread… The word that’s translated “fellowship” there could also be translated “sharing̶= 1; or even “communing.” You may have heard it before. It’s <= /span>koinonia.

Verses 44-46= tell us what that fellowship, that sharing was like. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

46Every day they continued to= meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate toge= ther with glad and sincere hearts.

When it says= they had everything in “common,” that comes from the same root as the word for fellowship. Koine. Christian fellowship is about sharing. It’s about what we have in common.

   &nb= sp; Now this passage is often misinterpreted. Too often people read it through the eyes of Karl Marx. But the early church wasn’t a communis= m. They didn’t sell all they had. They didn’t surrender the ownership of all private property. The early Christians didn’t sell e= verything all at once and put it in a common pot.* But when a brother or sister had n= eed, the disciples cared more about each other than about their possessions. They shared. They even sold stuff off in order to care for each other.

   &nb= sp; The early church wasn’t a communism. Rather it was a very close-knit, caring community. Because their lives were filled with the love= of Jesus, the early disciples shared with each other. They shared their possessions and their wealth.

   &nb= sp; They also shared their very lives. They spent time together. Acts 2:46 says, Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

   = Webster’s Dictionary defines a commune as: “a small group of persons living together, sharing possessions, work, income etc. and often pursuing unconventional lifestyles.”

   &nb= sp; The early church wasn’t all that small, but they shared their possessions, they spent a great deal of time together, and they pursued an unconventional lifestyle – one of absolute dedication to Jesus. The early church wasn’t much= like the communes that started in the 1960’s, but it was a type of commune= .

   &nb= sp; In the last two weeks we’ve learned that Acts 2:41-47 presents= us with God’s vision for the church. This is the local church the way the Lord wants it to be. And what we’re looking at today is the kind of fellowship the Lord wants the church to practice and enjoy.

   &nb= sp; So how are we doing? How much are we like the early church? Do we ha= ve that kind of fellowship? First let’s ask, what it means to have things in common.

   &nb= sp; In the early fall of 1974 – it may even be 32 years ago today – I was walking down the hall of my college dorm when I heard a famil= iar sound. A low, sustained tone on a tenor saxophone, followed by an even lower note on bass trombone, then some sweet, hot lava licks on a bluesy alto sax= . It was the first few bars of one of my favorite albums: Maynard Ferguson’= ;s MF Horn.

   &nb= sp; Excitedly, instinctively I pounded on the door to the room from which that heavenly sound was emanating. A bookish looking blonde man answered the door. I sputtered, “That’s Maynard!”

   &nb= sp; He exclaimed, “Yeah!”

   &nb= sp; I thrust out my hand. “I’m Rod.”

   &nb= sp; He took it. “I’m Stan.”

    And we’ve been friends ever since. In fact our sons are best friends toda= y. That friendship was built on something we had in common, a love of good jazz.

   &nb= sp; But what do we have in common in the church? Do we all like the same music? Hardly. Do we all have the same kind of education? No again. First graders to Ph.D.s are part of this fellowship. What about our political vie= ws? Our racial backgrounds? Our nations of origin? No, no, no. In all these are= as we’re different. We’re diverse.

   &nb= sp; But what we have in common is the same thing the early Christians ha= d in common. We share Jesus. We know His love for us, and we love Him. And that = is the center of our lives.

   &nb= sp; Fellowship is built on what we have in common. And a fellowship built around the Lord is better by far than any partnership or relationship based= on politics or race or language or even love of jazz.

   &nb= sp; But when members of the early not shared a love for Jesus, that shar= ing spilled over into practical matters. They also shared their material possessions. Do we still do that today?

   &nb= sp; Not too long ago my car was in the shop, and it was going to be in t= he shop for a long time. I had no way to get back and forth to work. This was = when Pat Mott was sick. So her husband, Jim, called me and said, “Pat isn’t going to be needing her car. Why don’t you use it until y= ou get yours back?”

   &nb= sp; Wow! How generous. As a matter of fact, this was the second time Jim= and Pat had shared with me that way. Now of course we all knew the car still belonged to the Motts. They held the title. They also paid the insurance. B= ut I had a need and they had a resource, and they were willing to share. That’s koinonia. That’s Christian fellowship.

   &nb= sp; A few months ago one of our members got 4 Disney tickets that he wan= ted to share with someone in the church. He asked if I knew a family that would really enjoy them, and who might not go to Disney otherwise. I thought of o= ne family, but I knew 4 tickets wouldn’t get everyone in. So I wasn= 't sure if the tickets would help or not. I wrote that family and said, "We've got four tickets. If it's the case that you need 6 tickets or y= ou can't go, we understand, but 4 is what we have to share."

   &nb= sp; They wrote back and said, "We have two tickets that we haven't = been able to use because we needed four more!"

     I think that's a great story = of Christians sharing, "having things in common." It's also a neat s= tory of how God provides in ways we don't expect. That’s koinonia. That’s Christian fellowship.

   &nb= sp; Two weeks ago one of you came up to me before church and handed me an envelope. You said you had heard that someone in our church community was having trouble paying some bills and you wanted to help. The envelope had $= 100 in it.

   &nb= sp; That generous person, who is on a fixed income, loves his brothers a= nd sisters more than he loves $100. And he didn’t even know the name of = the person who needed help. That’s koinonia. That’s Christian fellowship.

   &nb= sp; But Christian fellowship isn’t limited to sharing our material possessions. Koinonia includes concern for each other.

   &nb= sp; For several weeks this year Sarah Marsh was sick and unable to come = to church. I went to visit her, and she told me how Jean Clark and Ruby Prasad= had been caring for her so kindly, and how much their calls and visits meant to her. That, too, is koinonia.

   &nb= sp; Last month Bob Carden got a call that his mom had taken a turn for t= he worse and wasn’t expected to live through the day. He called me and t= old me about it as he was driving down to Fort Meyers to be with her.

   &nb= sp; When I got to church, Harold Betteridge, our sexton, was here. He had already talked to Bob, and told him that he was ready to drop everything an= d go be with Bob and his family in such a painful time. That is Christian fellowship.

    And I’ll never forget the day I went to the hospital to see Jean Clark af= ter her knee replacement surgery. It was one of those few seasons we’ve h= ad when several people in the church were having health problems. Marjorie Tur= ner was also sick at the time. When I walked into Jean’s room the medicat= ions hadn’t fully worn off yet, but she was still in pain. Nevertheless, t= he first thing she said when she saw me was, “How’s Marji?”<= /p>

   &nb= sp; We share our material possessions to meet each other’s needs. = We share a deep love and concern for one another. We share the love of Jesus. = We have all these things in common. That’s at least getting very close to what the New Testament calls Christian fellowship.

   &nb= sp; Our Old Testament reading for this morning says, How good= and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! … For there the = LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalm 133:1,3)

   &nb= sp; Where there is Christian fellowship, there is unity. And where there= is unity, that is where the Lord sends His blessings. We are blessed because of our fellowship. And the sweeter our fellowship becomes, the grea= ter the blessings we will enjoy.

   &nb= sp; I began this morning by asking if you’ve ever wondered what go= es on in a commune. But if a commune is a place where people share deeply and generously, if a commune is a place where real love flows freely, then you = and I do know what goes on in a commune. In the best sense of the word, Woodbury Presbyterian Church is one. Or at least we’re becoming one. At least partially, we are fulfilling God’s vision for the local church.

   &nb= sp; Partially. But could we do better? One of our elders forwarded this = note to me, which she received from an acquaintance in another country:

“J= ust a week ago, I was having a discussion with a ‘friend’ from church on the subject of ‘fellowship/friendship.’ He is concern= ed about the lack of caring for one another [among] church members. = He used the example of our friendship. We have known each other for= +- 12 years. He has never been into my house. I have only once been into his house - when the previous owners still lived there! We never visit, socialize or do anything together outside of church.

&nb= sp;

“Recently I was rather ill. Most members are unaware of this. Those who did know did nothing to assist me during this time (including this friend and his wife).  We see each other on Sunda= ys and call ourselves friends.

“D= o we really need church anymore? Why don't we rather spend Sundays visiting each other in our homes, sharing a passage of Scripture over a cup of tea or lunch, pra= ying for one another and [being] involved with one another?! Is this not what the church of Acts did?”=

=

     Well, that’= ;s part of what the church of Acts did. They d= id meet in each other’s homes in small groups, but they also gathered in large groups at the temple. Still this person has a point.

=

     And though this = person is describing life in a different congregation in a different part of the world, we can understand her concerns. Our elder’s comment to me was:=

“I've known = several members of Woodbury for many years now, and I still don’t know what they do f= or a living, where their homes are, or what they like to eat for dessert. = Part of that has to do with busyness, my own personality, etc. But could p= art of it be the way that we have crafted our church/fellowship experiences?= 221;

   &nb= sp; As a matter of fact, there are five or six things we could do – pretty easily – to make our fellowship richer and more beautiful, and= to enjoy more of God’s vision for the church.

   &nb= sp; There are some ways we can spend time with each other. There’s= no doubt about it. It takes time to be a loving church. We have to invest in o= ne another.

   &nb= sp; One way we can do that is through small groups. If you’re in a small group, make it a priority to go to the meetings. If you’re not = in a small group, tell me. I’d love to help you form one. You’ll find the small group experience to be very rewarding.

   &nb= sp; Last Sunday after church I saw something that really blessed me. Fou= r or five women who are in an Alpha group together were standing around chatting. What’s so neat about that? Two weeks earlier, before the Alpha course started, they didn’t even know each other. Now they’re making connections. Now they’re building community. Now they feel like they’re finding a place where they can be loved.

   &nb= sp; Another thing we can each do pretty easily is to go to lunch after church or brunch after Sunday School with different people in the church on= ce a month or so. Get to know your brothers and sisters. Find out what they do f= or a living and what they like for dessert. Find out ways you could pray for each other. You might even discover you both like Maynard Ferguson! You’ll surely be enriched by the fact that you both love Jesus.

   &nb= sp; Third, come to our weekly fellowship time at 9:45 each Sunday, then = go to Sunday school at 10:00. That’s the reason we moved the fellowship = time from after the second service to after the first service. We want 8:45 folk= s to stay and 11:00 folks to come early so we can mingle.

    So many people said that they loved the summer schedule when we all worshipped together at 10:00. You said you miss seeing people from the other service. I know what you mean. Of course, we can’t all fit in the worship area during most of the year so we need to have two services. But if we really w= ant to see each other, we can keep doing so at 9:45.

   &nb= sp; And Sunday School is another great time to build fellowship. Of cour= se if absolutely everyone comes to Sunday school we won’t have en= ough room. But we do have room in here for 182 adults. When Sunday school gets bigger than that, we’ll have to come up with a different solution. Ma= ybe our next building will be complete by then. Meanwhile, Sunday school is a g= reat opportunity for us to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching a= nd to the fellowship, just like the early church did.

     Fifth, attend our “Big Fellowship Events” like the Fall Festival we’ll have= on November 4 and the Progressive Dinner we’ll share in early December. = (We should probably have about 4 of those events per year. The Mission Dinner c= an be one of them.)

   &nb= sp; The workday we’ll be having on October 7 is also a great opportunity for fellowship. People grow closer when they work together.

   &nb= sp; And by the way, as we think about future buildings, we need to consi= der how our buildings can help enhance our fellowship.

     Last week I talk= ed about the Discipleship Training Center that I envision. Some of the rooms in that building should be set up like living rooms, not like classrooms. That way small groups can meet there in a cozy ambiance that promotes Christian sharing.

   &nb= sp; Of course we’ll also need a “fellowship hall” wher= e we can have fellowship dinners and game nights and things like that.

   &nb= sp; And I think we should have a café area. I’m envisioning= a place set up like a small Panera Bread Company or Barney’s. Booths. Couches. A coffee maker and a microwave. Music. DSL.

   &nb= sp; Some of our ACTION teams like to hold their meetings at Panera. It’s a nice, relaxed atmosphere and a great place just to “hang out.” We should have some space like that here, so people can meet for business or just get together to chat.

   &nb= sp; We all need a place to be loved. It’s rough out there and the world will chew you up and spit you out. The world will tell you that you n= eed to be strong. Stand on your own. Not need anybody. But that just makes you = more vulnerable.

   &nb= sp; You’ve heard the saying that God never gives you more than you= can handle. I believe that. But I think the Lord sometimes gives us more than we can handle alone. And that’s because He never intended for us to be alone.

   &nb= sp; He wants us to love each other. He wants us to support each other. He wants us to share with each other. That’s part of God’s vision = for the church. For this church. He wants us to be a community, a fellowship of Christlike love. He wants us to live in kononia. And at its best, that’s what goes on in a commune. Amen.

***********

*   = I think the New International Versi= on captures the idea properly in Acts 4:34 when it tells us that “= from time to time they sold [houses or land].” The early Christians sold their possessions and gave to those in need on an ad hoc basis. For example, when Ananias sold some property for a certain am= ount and gave part of it to the church but claimed that he was giving the whole amount, Peter said to him, Didn't [the property] belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't t= he money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? (Acts 5:4)

At the Comm= union Table

In a moment we’re going to share Holy Communion.= Have you ever noticed the connection between words like Communion and commune? Community? Common?

Holy Communion has three foci. It looks back to the ti= me when Jesus sacrificed His body and blood for us. “Do this in remembra= nce of me.”

It looks forward to the time when we will share in the heavenly feast. “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

But there is also a present component to Communion. We commune. We commune with Jesus as we eat His body and drink His blood. And = we commune with each other as we share this holy meal.

This is like a family dinner. This is a time when we d= raw closer to one another as we draw closer to Jesus. This is a time, perhaps m= ore richly than any other, when we celebrate what we have in common.

As you receive Communion this morning, think about your brothers and sisters. Think of the ways they have helped you. Inspired you. Loved you. Give thanks for them. Pray for them. Let’s commune togethe= r.